If your business uses Brother printers, copiers or fax machines, you can significantly reduce your carbon footprint by recycling your used ink cartridges. Due to the dangerous chemicals found in printer ink, disposing of old cartridges with the rest of your trash is ill-advised. Helping you in this endeavor is Brother, who provides customers with a comprehensive cartridge-recycling program.

Recycling Brother Cartridges in Person

Step 1

Remove the empty ink cartridges from your Brother brand printer. Consult the printer's owner's manual if you are unclear on how to do this. Wipe any residual ink off the empty cartridges with a lightly dampened paper towel.

Step 2

Place the cartridges in their original packaging. If you don't have the original packaging, place them in a sealed plastic bag.

Step 3

Take the empty cartridges to a nearby office supply chain store or electronics store that features a cartridge recycling program. OfficeMax and Office Depot, in particular, are known for offering in-store rewards for every used cartridge you bring in. However, be aware that certain stores place a limit on the number of cartridges they can accept from individual customers, so call your store of choice before proceeding to recycle your cartridges.

Recycling Brother Cartridges Online

Step 1

Visit an ink cartridge recycling website such as Ecyclegroup.com, Freecycling.com or Recycleforcharity.org.

Step 2

Register for an account with one of the sites. The registration process will vary from site to site, but it will generally entail providing your company's address, phone number and email address.

Step 3

Peruse the site's list of cartridges. You can usually access this list by clicking a link on the site's homepage. Place a check beside the model of Brother cartridges you wish to recycle.

Step 4

Print a free shipping label from the website you chose. In some cases, you will be asked to do this after specifying the type of cartridges you will be recycling. Some sites will require you to print this label through a confirmation email.

Step 5

Place your securely sealed Brother ink cartridges in a shipping box large enough to accommodate them. Seal the box with packing tape and ship it from your preferred parcel service.